Archbishop Takes On Basketball Coach

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke wants St. Louis University Men’s Basketball Coach Rick Majerus disciplined for his political activism: supporting cell-stem research and women’s right to abortion. The archbishop told a local TV station, “I would simply have to insist that it is not possible for a representative of the university to espouse these views which are in open violation of moral law, let alone Catholic teaching.”     Majerus attended a rally for Hillary Clinton on Saturday. He campaigned for John Kerry in 2004 and has said he supports stem-cell research and a woman’s right to abortion.      St. Louis University is a Jesuit institution. In 2006, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that it is an independent institution and is not under Roman Catholic control.     Burke said he plans to speak to SLU President Lawrence Biondi about the issue and that the college must deal with the issue. Majerus, one of college basketball’s most successful coaches, was hired in April 2007. He will be paid $650,000 this year, the highest amount SLU has paid a basketball coach.

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